POLICE REPORTSergeant Alun Harries attended the meeting and gave the latest report on incidents in and around Kintore, as follows:

1.LOCAL INTEREST INFORMATIONThe following crimes of note have been recorded in the last month.

At some point between 20 March and 4 April a window was smashed on a caravan parked on a site at Castle Road, Kintore. There are no further lines of enquiry.

On 9 April there was a report of a theft of a large gas canister from a rural property. This occurred some-time during the previous week. There are no lines of enquiry.

There have been 2 separate reports of "road rage" incidents on the A96 at Kintore for which there are positive lines of enquiry for both.

On the A96 at Kintore, Police also reported a driver for travelling 100 mph.

There were 2 persons reported for drink driving and 1 person charged for dangerous driving by means of driving a vehicle with multiple defects.

On 7 April, the Kintore Arms re opened. This will be welcomed by many in the local community and surrounds and we will look to having a close working relationship with management.

2. DETAILS OF ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO MATTERS RAISED AT THE PREVIOUS MEETINGThere are currently many challenges around resourcing and Supervisors from the Garioch CPT are aware that in recent times the attendance at community council meetings along with the submission of reports has been very sporadic. We are currently looking at options in order to address these. As always, should there be anything pressing, you are asked to contact myself (PS Harries) via e-mail.

3. ONGOING LOCAL/ FORCE-WIDE ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIESDuring the school holidays there have been some dedicated "plain cIothes" patrols within Kintore and surrounds.We are aware that there continue to be concerns re youths congregating around the rear of the primary school and also with young drivers playing music within the school car park. A number of these have been spoken to and educated.The Shire continues to be targeted by auto thieves from the city and Operation Ruby is the name of the initiative set up to target these individuals. During the early hours of 3 April 2016, a proactive approach was taken to reports of car criminals from outwith Kintore being active within the Hallforest area. A rapid response along with high visibility patrols resulted in them leaving the area and targeting different parts of the Shire. Although a number of crimes were reported from elsewhere, the following days saw 6 males taken into custody.

The chairman asked about “no waiting cones” for summer festival fun run on 17th and festival on 21st May 2016. PC Harries will see to this for us, through the planning section and Chairman will also chase up.

It was discussed that a Police Report update could be put to the Garioch Forum (meets 4 times a year) which would assist with the resourcing as it is at present. If the KDCC got a report prior to the monthly meeting it would be good enough and not necessitate a PC attending in person.

PRESENTATIONNo presentations this month.

MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETINGThe minutes were approved by Sheila Gray and seconded by Ann Marston.

MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTETown Park, Pavilion and Cricket Pitch,Chairman contacted Cala homes. Unfortunately progress has been slow to date and discussions continue with Aberdeenshire Council. Therefore site start will not be as previously advised and it is impossible to put a firm date on this given discussions are ongoing at present. Cllr Hood informed all that the traffic light system requires improvement.

With new industrial unit going into Midmill it will require a double lane roundabout/traffic lights system and should also be in place by 18 months. Transport Scotland have also informed the Midmill developers that the Broomhill roundabout will need to be upgraded within the next 18 months. The plan is to increase the diameter of the roundabout to handle the increased traffic and maintain good traffic flow. This will not detract from the Town Park progressing. Plans should be forthcoming for KDCC to review.

East Kintore Development, Site for Sports and Community Hall - No update Chairman to chase Doug Milne and NHS & council meeting.

Town House and Fountain - Feasibility Study submitted for review, responses required by 21$‘ April, Ownership /Lease considerations, concerns for commercial enterprise affecting local businesses. Chairman read out relevant items on the Study. Plan of Town House was discussed. Prospective Funding was also discussed. Dedicated Team would be required to manage this. Specialist businesses would be favoured as opposed to coffee shops or eateries. It was suggested that perhaps Action Kintore could front any future ventures. The costs of refurbishment was discussed, along with internal and external enhancements.

Chairman proposed we go back and say it was a good report and would forward our comments. It was stated that there would be a number of volunteers to drive the projectforward and must be community led.

KDCC Renewable Energy Project - letter sent to landowners but no response to date.

Kintore Action Plan — Need items selected for action and the Community Resilience Plan needs to be done. The decision is what should be done first. lt was decided that we should concentrate and make progress on the Community Resilience plan.

Kintore Floods Update -- There was correspondence with Area Manager regarding an email from the landowner’s agent regarding the land outside the railway embankment seeking further clarification on what the Council view was regarding the burn re-direction. Also requesting a response to the three potential solutions for Kintore put forward by theCC.

The response from the council was that the proposals were included in the Shire’s strategic plan but this will not be a quick process, and the indicated priorities had been flagged up to Strategic Recovery Group in the Council and to the Floods Team and in due course there will be a recommendation from them. Kintore’s input will feed into the Flooding Study which is due to start this year and will be a complex and lengthy piece of work which then may lead to the adoption of our ideas or other potential solutions. The Kintore flooding is part of the ongoing SEPA sponsored study but meantime the council is continuing with the repairs to roads, footpaths and riverbanks a total of around 90 tasks in the Garioch area alone. The council are keen to see solutions but this requires a plan, funding and then built and this will take time to achieve and was reminded that Stonehaven took three years to get to a starting point.

Cllr Hood reported on ongoing work. Officers need to take information from The Report to the Infrastructure committee and decide how they proceed. lt is estimated to cost £8M to fix all the damage. Doug Milne mentioned that a timescale on this decision could be 6 months from now, and this is the best estimate and may be longer. The Aberdeenshire report covers the whole area not isolated towns. Flood defence equipment for householders was discussed as personal steps they can take to help prevent flooding of their own premises, such as door barriers and wall vents barriers were mentioned and information on these are available on the council website. Communication with public using social media will also beaddressed as part of the council report along with the role of volunteers, formal flood defences with flood teams being set up. Our community resilience plan will also feed intothe resultant solutions for Kintore.

Chairman to check with absent Councillors to confirm if we are all in agreement to proceed with the Community Resilience Plan. Anne Simpson said there were funds available to assist with this if required for this up to £1500. Chairman agreed to keep Anne posted on the progress.

Community Resilience Planning - In considering the Community Resilience plan the chairman wrote to Colin Gray - Council Emergency Planning Officer — who advised we should initiate proceedings, review the government guidelines and other local established plans to prepare our plan. Colin would then attend and advise a smaller group on the next stages before we organise any public meetings.

Summer Festival Splat the Pirate, Lucky Dip are to be our activities again this year. Any more ideas how we could establish stall showing a PAD if we can get NHS responder test unit and an NHS responder to attend. Chairman to see if they can be included in our stall. We discussed the prospect of another PAD at the South end of the town, but for the CC to purchase another PAD would need to establish some fundraising. Ken McEwen informed all about an APP on mobile phones about where the PAD and others in the region are situated. Anne Simpson confirmed she plans to join our stall along with the Bothie.

Fireworks Display Been asked by Fireworx Scotland about dates this year, 5"‘ Nov is Saturday, large displays at Thainstone, the Beach, they are stretched, but could possibly still accommodate us, school is having disco Friday 4"‘ When do we want to have it? All agreed to stick with the Saturday 5"‘ November 2016. Chairman to inform Fireworx. Staggering the times was discussed as an option if required.

Allotments - Notice posted on Kintore.org.uk Lots of interest on facebook page. Needed 6 names but not sure if that happened. Chairman to get in touch and see what is happening.This would need to be community run not the Council.

TREASURER’S REPORTOn behalf of Joan Thomson, Gloria Johnstone gave the treasurer’s report, stating there is no movement this month. New KDCC Hewlett Packard Laptop has been purchased. Financial statements have been forwarded to Alison Cumming and await the annual admin grant.

YOUTH REPORTOn behalf of Kenny Thomson Gloria Johnstone read out the update of events “I provided a report on the Public Art project (sculptures) at previous meetings and that hasmoved on in a positive way. Not only are the 3 replacement sculptures almost complete and ready for installation and being replaced at no cost to Action Kintore, but now the Council has agreed to splash out and lay BGS (bonded gravel substrate) on the area surrounding the sculptures. BGS is the material you often see surrounding swings and other play equipment at public parks. lt is quality stuff which looks good, is porous and is expected to last for a long time. The whole installation job should be completed within a month.

One of the recent uses of the Bothie has been for First Aid / CPR / Deﬁbrillator training. The first of what is intended to be monthly courses was held on 23 March, with 14 attendees and the second will be tomorrow, Wednesday 20th April with 12 attendees, including Glen Reid. The March Course was very well received. Rotary has paid for the hire of the Bothie for these 2 Courses, at £25 per Course. There are no other costs involved. CAN KDCC COMMIT TO PAYING FOR THE NEXT TWO? Beyond July, we can see if there are any more Kintore folk interested in the training and sort out any hire costs from there.

There are different youth groups meeting at The Bothie at the moment and meetings have taken place regarding how more can be provided. The Junior group is going ahead as planned, the study group will be back on, as school exams start soon. The Tuesday night group is to continue, with the idea of doing fundraising, campaigning/advertising and focused work with them, as they seem capable and ready for it and they'll continuously have something to work towards and can use these skills for Dynamic Youth Awards etc.

One of the discussion items has been splitting the Tuesday group to suit different ages and from that has come another idea to engage Kintore’s youth, with a proposed new group, which has come about as a result of seeing a lot of new kids hanging about the streets of Kintore. The project entitled ‘Build Up the Bothie’ seeks to be inclusive of all. The plan is to form a new group on a Thursday, starting with a 6 week trial, to see if a core group of S1-S3 pupils can be engaged. As a starter, over the first two weeks, the plan would be to do some detached work i.e. getting out onto the streets, with leaflets of the Bothie explaining what takes place there and by which groups etc. and try and meet some new kids. These first two weeks should provide information as to what these kids would like from the Bothie and form the basis of the remaining 4 week programme. If this goes well and a decent sized group is formed, the Bothie could be open Thursday evenings for them, as said.

The application for 3 year funding for the Youth and Volunteer Co-Ordinator (Rachel Lewis) post has successfully passed the first hurdle (Expression of Interest), with a detailed application now required by the end of this month.

A trip to Nethy Bridge for youth from The Bothie is currently being arranged, with good take up of places. l’ll report further on that in May.” Kenny Thomson Agreed unanimously that KDCC pay £25 towards the payment for PAD sessions.